ACS was in the recently held Cardware 2014: Payment and Digital ID Insights. Held on Jun 17 to 18, 2014 at Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada. Cardware 2014 covered mainly today’s payment issues and opportunities for mobile, online and secure payments.

Bob Merkert, ACS President for the Americas, presented a paper about prepaid and loyalty solutions, using as a case study the e-PLUS, an end-to-end solution provided by ACS to SM, the largest mall developer, operator, and retail company in the Philippines.

In his presentation, Bob enumerated the functionalities enabled by the e-PLUS, geared towards both operators and consumers; and the benefits and impacts of the system. For more details, click here.

For more information on loyalty, prepaid and end-to-end e-payment solutions, email info@acs.com.hk.

ACS was at the Renaissance Austin Hotel in Austin, Texas, USA, for NFC Solutions Summit 2014 from Jun 3 to 4, 2014.

ACS exhibited the ACR122U, a CCID-compliant reader that also supports MIFARE, FeliCa, and ISO 14443 Type A and B technologies; and the ACR122T, a token version of the ACR122U that is both PC/SC and CCID-compliant. ACS will also display the ACR123, a terminal that offers far-ranging compatibility by supporting ISO 14443, MIFARE, MasterCard PayPass, and Visa payWave cards.

ACS also showed its latest contactless reader, the ACR1252, and its latest mobile card reader, the ACR35. The ACR1252 is one of the first in the industry to be certified by the NFC Forum to perform all three NFC modes and guarantee interoperability with other NFC devices. Meanwhile, the ACR35 is a reader for magnetic stripe and contactless cards that enables users to accept cashless payments, even through mobile devices that have no built-in NFC.

ACS’s President for the Americas, Bob Merkert, was panel moderator for a track panel session on Jun 4. The topic will be: NFC and Identity Access Solutions.

NFC Solutions Summit has been touted as “the leading NFC showcase for the Americas.” Organized by the Smart Card Alliance, the event brings together leaders from different industry sectors to enable a cohesive picture of issues, milestones, and technology advancements in NFC markets. To learn more about the NFC Solutions Summit, visitwww.nfcsolutionssummit.com.

ACS was an exhibitor in the China International Smart Cards, RFID and IOT Exhibition & Conference 2014. Organized by the State Leading Group Office of Golden Cards Project Coordination, this event is recognized as the largest annual IOT exhibition of its kind in the industry. This year, it was held in Beijing Exhibition Center on June 3-5. ACS will be in Booth L044, Hall 3. Visitors are invited to drop by the ACS booth to discover a wide variety of ACS products. For more details, click here.

In the recently concluded Cards & Payments Asia 2014, we talked about new revenue streams care of NFC, and the challenges of bringing smart card technology to countries with relatively underdeveloped infrastructure. See more at: http://goo.gl/y92G8E

We have redesigned our corporate website! URL is still www.acs.com.hk; we’ve changed things a bit for you to be able to view smart card-related information more easily. We hope the new design gives you a better online experience. Feel free to tell us what you think!

From August 15 to September 15, Advanced Card Systems Ltd. (ACS) will be giving away ten software development kits (SDKs) to ten lucky subscribers of ACS’s Facebook page. Below are the contest details:

The contest will be open to all likers of ACS’s Facebook page until 15 Sep 2013. Non-subscribers can immediately like ACS’s Facebook page in order to be eligible for the contest.

We’ll put up a contest page on August 15. We encourage you to check it out to find how you can have additional entries to the contest.

Below are some details regarding the prizes:

The ACR1281U-C1 SDK contains sample applications and codes, and tools and utilities for the ACR1281U-C1 Dualboost II, a second-generation USB dual-interface reader that helps integrate conventionally separate and independent applications into one device and one card.

The ACR89U-A2 SDK contains sample applications and codes, and tools and utilities for the ACR89U-A2, a handheld reader with pinpad that operates on both standalone and PC-linked modes at lower energy levels than its predecessor, the ACR88.

For questions regarding the ACR1281U-C1, the ACR89U-A2, or any of the two SDKs, please email PR@acs.com.hk. We hope to see you at the giveaway on August 15!

Aside from making our smart card readers viewable through our website, we have come out with six websites, each featuring one of our smart card reader lines.

This is intended to help users make side-by-side comparisons of ACS readers more easily. Each product line website combines into one page all overviews of the ACS smart card readers that fall under it. Links to websites for individual products and other related content are also included in the product line websites.

We hope that this makes it easier for those interested in smart card technology to find the solution that best matches their needs. Below are links to the product line websites:

PC-Linked Readers — these CCID– and PC/SC–compliant readers come in all sizes and form factors, to match user needs and preferences.

We have come out with 3 demo videos showing an example of how smart card technology can increase efficiency and convenience for transportation. Using the ACR89U-A2 software development kit (SDK), we simulated 3 different modules for the taxi fare-related transactions: registration of taxi passenger cards and driver e-purse cards, balance inquiry for driver/passenger cards, and standalone payment transfer.

Here are the videos:

Passenger/Driver Smart Card Registration

Balance Inquiry

Payment Transfer

The demo videos above are applicable not only to the ACR89U-A2, but also the ACR89 Series. In fact, the ACR89U-A2 SDK (which, as mentioned earlier, was used for these demos) provides users with sample applications, tools and utilities, and sample codes that may be used for the ACR89 in general. This will help users incorporate the device into their applications.

There are two readers in the ACR89 product line, the ACR89U-A1 and the ACR89U-A2. The ACR89U-A1 supports contact card–based transactions only, while the ACR89U-A2 supports both contact and contactless transactions. (Note that there is also the ACR89U-A1 SDK, for users more interested in contact card–based applications.)

The ACR89U-A2 SDK is priced at USD279, while the ACR89U-A1 SDK is priced at USD239.

Both readers of the ACR89 line are handheld, and may be used in conjunction with the PTR89, a portable thermal printer for immediate printing of receipts.

Applications for the ACR89 line are not limited to transport; other applications include those for e-government, e-banking and e-payment, e-healthcare, and loyalty.

Users interested in the ACR89, the ACR89U-A1/A2 SDKs, or similar solutions may email info@acs.com.hk.

FIPS 201 is a US standard covering personal identity verification (PIV) for the US Federal employees/contractors. The ACR38U-I1 and ACR38U-N1 Pocketmate, both housing the powerful ACR38U core, are FIPS 201-certified. Both readers are also TAA-compliant, making them especially suited to Federal e-government applications.